The invention relates to aerosol coatings, particularly to an aerosol paint product. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to an aerosol latex paint and a method of manufacturing the same utilizing the same base paint as existing architectural products.
The use of paint in architectural applications is well known. Paints for these applications may be divided into oil-based paints and water-based or “latex” paints. These paints may be further divided into paints for exterior applications and those for interior applications. Architectural paint for interior applications is frequently water-based or latex paint, due to the ease of use and the fact that clean up requires water rather than mineral spirits or other organic solvents.
The use of water as a solvent however, has previously made the use of latex paint incompatible with most aerosol spray applications, due to the insolubility of the hydrocarbon propellants typically used in an aerosol spray paint application, such as propane, butane, or isobutene, in water. The use of partially water soluble gasses such as dimethyl ether is known in some limited aerosol applications, however when dimethyl ether is used with latex polymers the gas penetrates and swells the micelle resulting in a highly viscous non-sprayable gel.
It has been known to use water emulsified into a solvent based solution coating in ground marking/striping paint in the past. In such applications, water serves only as filler for cost reduction and does not involve a fully formulated, water-based coating emulsified into a carrier solvent. When water is added to a solvent-based coating it may introduce many problems such as: polymer insolubility, long dry times, poor film properties, high VOC, etc.
Therefore, there is a need for an aerosol latex paint in which a water-based coating is emulsified into a carefully chosen, controlled blend of solvents such that one is able to maintain the original properties and advantages of a modern latex coating. Such a product would provide an excellent touch-up tool over brushed or rolled architectural paint as well as a means to spray a latex coating without the use of bulky and expensive equipment.